Want to cut the cord, but keep access to Utah games. Help!

[SkinyUte]

I don’t watch TV at all except for football and basketball (very occasionally), and the kids and wife really only watch Netflix these days.  As a result, I’m tired of paying Comcast a hundred bucks a month for something I basically never use.  

However, I’m also a bit of a luddite, so figuring out what other options are available has been…challenging.  A couple questions for those who might know:

1.  It looks like you can get all the P12 Network channels via Sling. But it looks like I’d need to subscribe to both packages (orange and blue, plus the $5/month Sports addon) to ensure I get access to all the channels the games might be on (ESPN, Fox Sports, P12).  That sound about right?

2.  What hardware do I need to run this Sling service?  A Chromecast device?  A Fire Stick?  Just a “smart TV”?  Sling-specific hardware?

3.  Is Sling the best choice, or is there a better option?

Thanks in advance for any input.  I’m a freaking idiot with this stuff.

[rbmw263]

You need something internet connected. Xbox. Chromecast. etc. Chromecast is great and only 15$. Then you will just download the sling app on your phone and you are all set. 

Im not sure if there are cheaper alternatives to this. Unless you know someone who is willing to give you log ins for their cable sub, which would allow you to stream all 3 of those channels on a computer that you could connect to your tv through HDMI

[Duhwayne]

Nowadays new tvs are giant ipads, so you can install Sling from the android account associated with the tv. You will need a broadband subscription too. Honestly you’re not going to come away with that much cheaper monthly

I use sling, which also allows you record P12 games. TVs also have chromecast built in, so you can cast old games too.

[SkinyUte]

I’ve been looking at new Smart TV’s anyways, as the one I have now is about 8 years old and doesn’t have any built in functionality. In lieu of that, is Chromecast $15 a month, or do you just buy the hardware for $15 and you’re done?

Side note: Either I’m a complete moron (likely) or these company’s sites (Sling, Chromecast, Roku, etc.) are absolutely terrible at explaining what it is their service does, and how you go about getting it to work. I’ve spent a couple hours today trying to research, and have mostly just come away with more questions than answers. SMH.

[Duhwayne]

One time purchase. It’s more than quoted for the newest generation. You just need a standard HDMI jack. I think there may even be workarounds to that.

https://store.google.com/product/chromecast_ultra

I gave a Roku to a friend living overseas. Is watching Netflix from there and is thrilled.

I was overseas for a recent season. A chromecast and an illegal feed allowed me to watch games on tv. It was lovely.

[GoUtes]

I have Youtube TV which will cover me for every game besides Pac-12 Network, I believe. Has anyone done a 7-day free trial with Sling TV in order to watch a game on Pac-12 Network? Is it possible to do even when the Pac-12 Network is on the advanced package (sports add-on)?

[UTE98]

@SkinyUte I know I’m late to the party, but I cut the cord about 5 years ago. All right that’s not totally truthful. I picked up Xfinity for football season three of those years and CenturyLink Prism for another, but last year I was all SlingTV for the footbal season.

Never had any problems picking up all the games I wanted with any of those platforms.

Since I’ve been mostly cable free for the past five plus years SlingTV feels like what I’m used to. I can’t remember if it was Xfinity or Prism but I didn’t get all the Pac12 channels. Only the main channel and the Mountain channel (live in Colorado).

Last year with SlingTV there were a few Big10 games I believe which were blocked out due to an issue between Big10 and CBSSports. But I got all the Pac12 channels and didn’t really miss any games.

For the price I like SlingTV, feel like I get more for the $$$$. But the problem with Sling is I can’t set up a personalized guide with just football channels on it. So you kind of have to scroll through the guide on the bottom of the screen and then switch to the channel. A little clunkier than having the Prism/Xfinity remote.

As for what to watch it on… well SlingTV is the winner here in my opinion. You can watch on your computer, your Roku (Sling has a pretty good offer for first time subscribers for a free Roku), your FireStickTV, FireTV, Chromecast, PSVue (PS4 I believe), and I think it’s on XBox as well. Plus there are many other streaming boxes. 

At my house we have a digital antenna hooked to two TVs for our local channels, we get about 40 channels, and I really like the PBS create channel, not for the sewing but for the cooking shows. We watch broadcast television on Hulu, paid the extra few bucks for no commercials, only show we don’t get is Big Bang Theory and I haven’t really missed it. 

If you have Amazon Prime, the FireTV or FirestickTV are your best options. There is great content on Prime, “Man in the High Castle” was one of my favorites. There are also many movies, TV shows etc available all part of your $99, sorry $119 per year. We also have Netflix, but I could do without it. They do have some good content but I think Amazon Prime and Hulu provide 80+% of what I watch.

I improved my internet this year so SlingTV should be even better. Last year I had 40Mbps with Centurylink, never could get above 25Mbps on wi-fi, and around 30 ethernet. My prison term was up with CenturyLink on August 9th and they couldn’t match the price I’m getting Xfinity 60Mbps for… Long story short I bought the cable modem, hooked it up and was getting 70.2Mbps over wi-fi that night. And I’ve heard they update the Mbps for long term customers on about an annual basis. 

Hope that tl;dr helped.

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