Cutting the Cable Guide

[Herdfan]

The internet bill is the only one my wife deals with. I’d bet we’re paying $120/month for Comcast. She never mentions it because she knows I’d fly off the handle. Fuck me.

$100.95 here for Comcast Business Internet 100 package. Same as the residential package but separate CS number.

I am lucky. About 20 years ago Adephia took over our cable company. It was a mess which is why I had DirecTV. They spent some money and installed fiber to the node. So my neighborhood basically has a fiber connection with the last mile new copper. Comcast got it when Adelphia went bankrupt and there were some growing pains in the way the system was split (TW got the old headend), but now it is rock solid.

I could probably get faster, but it is plenty fast enough to stream HD on a couple of TV's.

 

[Huntn]

So officially my cable is cut once again. Had it disconnected yesterday.

For local channels, is anyone using Air TV, a device with a HD antenna that looks like it fits on a window? Just curious. My wife said she does not care about NFL Football, but I don’t know if I can trust her.

Stream Local TV in HD | AirTV

Watch the local channels you love, like ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS and more without a monthly bill. Stream your local channels to your mobile device with AirTV.

airtv.net

 

[DT]

So officially my cable is cut once again. Had it disconnected yesterday.

For local channels, is anyone using Air TV, a device with a HD antenna that looks like it fits on a window? Just curious. My wife said she does not care about NFL Football, but I don’t know if I can trust her.

Stream Local TV in HD | AirTV

Watch the local channels you love, like ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS and more without a monthly bill. Stream your local channels to your mobile device with AirTV.

airtv.net

So that appears to be a regular "leaf" style antenna, then the AirTV is the box that distributes the signal into the your local network - however, it appears to be proprietary and require a SlingTV sub.

The more open option for something like this is HDHomeRun:

HDHomeRun – Silicondust

www.silicondust.com

Basically you plug any antenna into one of their boxes and it distributes it into your local IP network. Then you can use a few different apps to access it, a couple are available for AppleTV (as in, the box ...)

 

[SuperMatt]

So officially my cable is cut once again. Had it disconnected yesterday.

For local channels, is anyone using Air TV, a device with a HD antenna that looks like it fits on a window? Just curious. My wife said she does not care about NFL Football, but I don’t know if I can trust her.

Stream Local TV in HD | AirTV

Watch the local channels you love, like ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS and more without a monthly bill. Stream your local channels to your mobile device with AirTV.

airtv.net

There are many indoor antennas to choose from. I got a GE one with an amplifier that I put on the windowsill. Some can be taped to walls too.

You can also get an HD HomeRun box that allows you to stream your local channels on your local network. I used it with a Plex server to watch live and record shows and movies.

 

[DT]

Oh yeah, Plex makes a nice DVR option. Maybe @SuperMatt can cross check me about that system requiring a SlingTV sub, I'm 99% sure that's the case, it says "no subscription required" because it piggybacks on your existing Sling service. I'm sure the integration is nice, like you get a unified TV guide.

We just use a freebie app since we very rarely watch any locals.

 

[SuperMatt]

Oh yeah, Plex makes a nice DVR option. Maybe @SuperMatt can cross check me about that system requiring a SlingTV sub, I'm 99% sure that's the case, it says "no subscription required" because it piggybacks on your existing Sling service. I'm sure the integration is nice, like you get a unified TV guide.

We just use a freebie app since we very rarely watch any locals.

I don’t use Sling. But Plex is a one-time lifetime membership, OTA channels are free, you have to buy the HD Homerun tuner, and of course have a PC or Mac around to install Plex on (some “cloud” hard drives from WD and maybe other manufacturers can run a Plex server too).

 

[Huntn]

A question for anyone who is tech savvy, I have a LinkSys AX3200 dual band router (2.4 and 5Ghz) that I purchased for use with my new fiber optic service.

My question, does it reduce load on the router to split the load of devices between the 2.4 and 5 Ghz bands or can they all be on 5 With no difference in load? What I noticed with this new router is that the 5Ghz band carries much farther than my previous cable modem/router, so my inclination would be to put everything on 5 if it makes no difference.

 

[DT]

Put everything that can use 5GHz on that network. FWIW, while 5GHz is faster it has less range vs. the 2.4GHz. The latter I tend to use for a fallback for legacy devices, or if I need better range (like when we were using an AppleTV in the driveway to show spooky movies during Halloween and it was kind of pushing the range limits of the 5GHz network )

And go with ethernet where you can, sometimes it's super simple, but people just immediately use the WiFi. You'd be surprised how many devices might have ethernet ports that are sitting 2-3 feet away from a router/AP.

For example, downstairs the TV, AVR, AppleTV and XBOX are all on ethernet (aka, "hard wired"), in our bedroom the AppleTV is on ethernet, the PS4P in the guest room is on ethernet. Heck, I'd have my Mini on ethernet too, but my current office setup made teh wiring a bit of a PITA .

So our only WiFi devices around here - with the exception of my Mini - are mobile devices.

 

[Huntn]

Put everything that can use 5GHz on that network. FWIW, while 5GHz is faster it has less range vs. the 2.4GHz. The latter I tend to use for a fallback for legacy devices, or if I need better range (like when we were using an AppleTV in the driveway to show spooky movies during Halloween and it was kind of pushing the range limits of the 5GHz network )

And go with ethernet where you can, sometimes it's super simple, but people just immediately use the WiFi. You'd be surprised how many devices might have ethernet ports that are sitting 2-3 feet away from a router/AP.

For example, downstairs the TV, AVR, AppleTV and XBOX are all on ethernet (aka, "hard wired"), in our bedroom the AppleTV is on ethernet, the PS4P in the guest room is on ethernet. Heck, I'd have my Mini on ethernet too, but my current office setup made teh wiring a bit of a PITA .

So our only WiFi devices around here - with the exception of my Mini - are mobile devices.

Thanks! So it makes no difference on the wifi load on the router?
The problem is that there are not enough ethernet connectors on the back of this router, as with the one before it, only 4, plus the input. So even though I have the Apple TV directly hooked to router and directly hooked to the TV, the Roku is using Wifi off the router, and connected to the TV via HDMI, I’m anticipating soon that I will be dumping our VOI Phone, which also currently takes up a slot on the router. Actually I need to check and see if this Roku has an Ethernet connection.

 

[Renzatic]

Actually I need to check and see if this Roku has an Ethernet connection.

I use my two Roku's over wifi, and haven't had a single problem out of them. So long as your router is providing enough coverage to all your boxes, that's not something I'd concern myself with too much.

 

[DT]

FWIW, you can always hang a switch off a port and get more ports, something like this:

NETGEAR 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Unmanaged Switch (GS308)

8 port, so you'd use a port on the router, and a port on the switch, and wind up with 7 free ports

That's actually what I do here: I've got a drop from the second floor equipment closet, and that's connected to an 8 port switch sitting on the AV rack (ethernet to TV/ATV/AVR/XBOX), and one of the ports I have a second AirPort that works as an Access Point (so we have more WiFi coverage, especially over in my corner down here )

 

[Huntn]

FWIW, you can always hang a switch off a port and get more ports, something like this:

NETGEAR 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Unmanaged Switch (GS308)

8 port, so you'd use a port on the router, and a port on the switch, and wind up with 7 free ports

That's actually what I do here: I've got a drop from the second floor equipment closet, and that's connected to an 8 port switch sitting on the AV rack (ethernet to TV/ATV/AVR/XBOX), and one of the ports I have a second AirPort that works as an Access Point (so we have more WiFi coverage, especially over in my corner down here )

This looks brilliant. I will consider this if I think it might help performance but so far it’s not needed..

 

[DT]

This looks brilliant. I will consider this if I think it might help performance but so far it’s not needed..

Yeah, @Renzatic is right on, very most likely not needed, just another option. We have a ton of devices, so I use ethernet when it's easy and makes sense (i.e., simple cabling, ports built in to device, "fixed" location).

 

[Huntn]

Yeah, @Renzatic is right on, very most likely not needed, just another option. We have a ton of devices, so I use ethernet when it's easy and makes sense (i.e., simple cabling, ports built in to device, "fixed" location).

I'm still wondering if you reduce the load on your router by splitting up the load between 2.4 Ghz and 5, or if it makes absolutely no difference to the router's performance? Some things you definitely want 5G, but the things I would want top have 5G like our TV and my computer are both wired in. Now there is a TV in our bedroom via Roku box wifi and I would want that on 5G, but our phones and tablets, I think do perfectly fine on 2.4Ghz.

Regarding the Fiber 100Mbit service, so far, not a hiccup (knock on wood), I downloaded a 8GB file and that took about 10 minutes or so. I don't do that often. This was a graphics package of 3D trees and bushes, and I have no idea how fast the sending source was.

 

[Pumbaa]

Regarding the Fiber 100Mbit service, so far, not a hiccup (knock on wood), I downloaded a 8Gbit file and that took about 10 minutes or so. I don't do that often. This was a graphics package of 3D trees and bushes, and I have no idea how fast the sending source was.

Ignoring overhead, a 100 Mbit/s (megabit/s) connection gives you 12.5 megabyte per second. An 8 GB (gigabyte) file is 8000 MB (megabyte), so it transfers in around 640 seconds (10 minutes 40 seconds) @ 100 Mbit/s if there are no bottlenecks.

An 8 Gbit (gigabit) file on the other hand would be 80 seconds.

 

[Huntn]

Ignoring overhead, a 100 Mbit/s (megabit/s) connection gives you 12.5 megabyte per second. An 8 GB (gigabyte) file is 8000 MB (megabyte), so it transfers in around 640 seconds (10 minutes 40 seconds) @ 100 Mbit/s if there are no bottlenecks.

An 8 Gbit (gigabit) file on the other hand would be 80 seconds.

Sorry, typo, fixed.

 

[DT]

I'm still wondering if you reduce the load on your router by splitting up the load between 2.4 Ghz and 5, or if it makes absolutely no difference to the router's performance?

No - see my original post above - use 5GHz when you can unless you have a specific case for the 2.4GHz (i.e., range, older equipment).

 

[Pumbaa]

Sorry, typo, fixed.

Great! That means your download pretty much maxed out your connection. You got what you pay for (and the other end could keep up).

 

[rdrr]

Ignoring overhead, a 100 Mbit/s (megabit/s) connection gives you 12.5 megabyte per second. An 8 GB (gigabyte) file is 8000 MB (megabyte), so it transfers in around 640 seconds (10 minutes 40 seconds) @ 100 Mbit/s if there are no bottlenecks.

An 8 Gbit (gigabit) file on the other hand would be 80 seconds.

FWIW file size are always reported in Bytes, and Network speeds should always be repoted in bits. When you represent Gigabyte or Gigabit, it should be B for byte and b for bit, e.g. GB and Gb.

 

[rdrr]

I'm still wondering if you reduce the load on your router by splitting up the load between 2.4 Ghz and 5, or if it makes absolutely no difference to the router's performance? Some things you definitely want 5G, but the things I would want top have 5G like our TV and my computer are both wired in. Now there is a TV in our bedroom via Roku box wifi and I would want that on 5G, but our phones and tablets, I think do perfectly fine on 2.4Ghz.

Regarding the Fiber 100Mbit service, so far, not a hiccup (knock on wood), I downloaded a 8GB file and that took about 10 minutes or so. I don't do that often. This was a graphics package of 3D trees and bushes, and I have no idea how fast the sending source was.

For home use, usually not unless you have a lot of IoT (Internet of things) on your network, smart plugs, lights, alexa, door locks, washer/dryer, roomba, etc. I usually put those on the 2.4 Ghz range, and my computers, gaming, smartTV, and phones/tablets on the 5 Ghz range.

WiFi is a lot like the old walkie talkies, where only one person can talk at a time. A lot of the more modern wifi access points have multiple antennas in them to handle more connections, and you typically only see congestion in large venues.