new home help--internet and TV

[Doc]

After much chagrin and an amazing amount of work courtesy of our mortgage company, we finally closed on a new house. So am in the process of setting up services. My biggest hurdle is the internet and TV options. The house does have access to Comcast/Xfinity thru fiberoptics, which we have had in the past, and were comfortable with. So that is an option however we are also exploring others. The house has 6 TV's including two outdoors, and I believe all were wired to cable boxes at some point. Second, my wife's job requires reliable and quick internet access. We are looking into T-moble for internet access but is only 245Mbps so not sure that is enough for multiple TV streamings plus wife's work needs. Also, I have no experience with streaming other than ESPN+ and Amazon Prime. Obviously, I need the "sports channels" (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC, FXSports, FL Bally), local channels, and the normal cable networks (FOXNEWS, TBS, TNT, HGTV, etc....)

Thoughts?

[KentuckyWildcat]

245 is fine Mbps. I run an entire company off of 100Mbps with no issues. We have about 60 computers plus other devices.

* Just make sure you are getting 245 Mbps. Paying for it and getting it are two different things.
* I have Xfinity, and get 900 Mbps down for $80 a month. 25 Mbps upload
* Check on the upload speed as well, that can be important working from home. Not all offer the same speed up and down.
* Faster is good, but dependability is better IMO
* 6 TVs sounds like a pretty large home. Wi-Fi coverage will be just as important and Internet speed.

Edit to add:
* My comcast is up to 900Mbps, I rarely get that.
* Unless you are hardwired in 200-400Mbps is about the max you will get on any given device.

[VirginiaCat]

The issue with T-Mobile, both their cellular and the internet, it you are a 2nd tier user. So, that means if someone uses Verizon or ATT pipe near you their demand is a higher priority than yours and you can get capped in usage at that time. This is a bigger problem in more populated areas/subdivisions than if more suburban with larger lots/smaller subdivisions. At one point I had moved all 150 of our cellular lines to T-mobile from Verizon but our staff had such degredation in quality of voice and data we had to go back despite the monetary savings.

Which is another point. T-Mobile says it has the same coverage map as Verizon but we did not find it to be so. So ensure you have coverage before going that direction.

I currently have Xfinity here in Virginia. I have the most high level Cable/Internet/Phone Triple play package so am at 1200mps and obvioulsy zero speed issues. But I pay for that package (I think $275 per month). A new carrier in town offering 1Gig lines (1000mps) for $100 per month. When they get to me I will consider cutting the cord and going to YoutubeTV live and some other external packages saving about $50 per month.

[PedroDaGr8]

For work from home, upload speed is going to be a LOT more important than download speed. A 4K stream, takes AT MOST around 20Mbps of download, so on a 250 Mbps download, you could easily run 8-10 simultaneous streams and still have 50Mbps left over. Unfortunately, most cable internet and fixed wireless access (FWA) internet providers have abysmal upload speeds. From what I have read, comcast only does fiber to the node (the box that serves multiple houses) rather than fiber to the premise which is what true fiber optic internet is. IF you have a true fiber optic internet provider in your area, those tend to be by far the best performing because they typically offer symmetric upload and download speeds, meaning 1gig = 1Gbps down AND 1 Gbps up rather than Comcast which has 1 Gbps down and 20 or 30 Mbps (0.03Gbps) up.

For your usage scenario, I wouldn't recommend T-Mobile FWA mainly due to the highly variable latency. My parents have it at their house and sometimes it works great and other times it can take multiple seconds before things get moving. This jitter/latency would be VERY noticeable in a work environment. If Comcast is the only other option, then it is still better than DSL.

Don't forget your home network, which plays a huge role in how much of the internet your ISP delivers actually makes it to your device. In a large home, you are going to want good coverage both inside and out. If your home isn't already wired for some sort of networking, I would recommend a good mesh network like the EERO 6+ or the TP-Link AX3000 WiFi 6 Mesh or the Google Nest WiFi or the Google Nest WiFi Pro. If your home IS wired for networking, I would strongly recommend slightly more high performance options like Ubiquiti or Aruba Networks families of products. We have a friend who uses Ubiquiti throughout his house including an outdoor antenna to direct WiFi out to their firepit in the far back corner of their property.

For streaming, take a look at YouTubeTV, FuboTV, HuluTV, and SlingTV. Unfortunately, there is no right answer when it comes to local channels. Every provider has slightly different offerings. We have YouTube TV and ESPN+ and love it. We are able to watch 99.99% of what we want at any time. Plus, we love the fact that YouTubeTV comes with unlimited DVR. We just tell it to record UK Basketball, UK Football, etc. and it records every single game for us without us having to think about it.

[Doc]

Upload speed is listed at 15-31 Mbps

[Doc]

The issue with T-Mobile, both their cellular and the internet, it you are a 2nd tier user. So, that means if someone uses Verizon or ATT pipe near you their demand is a higher priority than yours and you can get capped in usage at that time. This is a bigger problem in more populated areas/subdivisions than if more suburban with larger lots/smaller subdivisions. At one point I had moved all 150 of our cellular lines to T-mobile from Verizon but our staff had such degredation in quality of voice and data we had to go back despite the monetary savings.

Which is another point. T-Mobile says it has the same coverage map as Verizon but we did not find it to be so. So ensure you have coverage before going that direction.

I currently have Xfinity here in Virginia. I have the most high level Cable/Internet/Phone Triple play package so am at 1200mps and obvioulsy zero speed issues. But I pay for that package (I think $275 per month). A new carrier in town offering 1Gig lines (1000mps) for $100 per month. When they get to me I will consider cutting the cord and going to YoutubeTV live and some other external packages saving about $50 per month.

population density is not high. Lots are at least an acre so we don't have a population issue. However this is Jupiter, FL so its not like the folks who live here accept less than "top tier" of anything. I am sure coverage here is fine, however we have a home in Colorado as well, top of a mountain where ATT coverage is sketchy at best.

[Doc]

For streaming, take a look at YouTubeTV, FuboTV, HuluTV, and SlingTV. Unfortunately, there is no right answer when it comes to local channels. Every provider has slightly different offerings. We have YouTube TV and ESPN+ and love it. We are able to watch 99.99% of what we want at any time. Plus, we love the fact that YouTubeTV comes with unlimited DVR. We just tell it to record UK Basketball, UK Football, etc. and it records every single game for us without us having to think about it.

Youtube looks like it has all I need. As for local channels, I am not sure I need the local CBS, NBC, ABC so long as I get a fed from their national coverage (IE I don't need Palm Beach NBC so long as I get Miami, or Atlanta, etcs feed). I think I might sign up for youtube and use it before we fully move. If it sucks then nix it.

So question concerning youtube TV...is there a box? an app (thus needs to be a "smart" TV)?


Edit: so I looked and if the TV has an APP then I just load it. I'm not sure all mine do. If not then I need a firestick, correct?

next question, when it asks location, that is for the local channels, correct? So if I put in say Lexington zip code, will that mean I get Lexington local channels?

[KentuckyWildcat]

Upload speed is listed at 15-31 Mbps

Most likely fine....BUT...we require 25Mbps here for upload. So...iffy perhaps.

[KentuckyWildcat]

Youtube looks like it has all I need. As for local channels, I am not sure I need the local CBS, NBC, ABC so long as I get a fed from their national coverage (IE I don't need Palm Beach NBC so long as I get Miami, or Atlanta, etcs feed). I think I might sign up for youtube and use it before we fully move. If it sucks then nix it.

So question concerning youtube TV...is there a box? an app (thus needs to be a "smart" TV)?


Edit: so I looked and if the TV has an APP then I just load it. I'm not sure all mine do. If not then I need a firestick, correct?

next question, when it asks location, that is for the local channels, correct? So if I put in say Lexington zip code, will that mean I get Lexington local channels?

Roku, Firestick, or SmartTV.

Also can use your PC or phone app.

Locals...Pretty sure it pulls the locals off of your IP now. It warns me about my locals when I login at work in Hopkinsville vs Greenville.

[Doc]

Roku, Firestick, or SmartTV.

Also can use your PC or phone app.

Locals...Pretty sure it pulls the locals off of your IP now. It warns me about my locals when I login at work in Hopkinsville vs Greenville.

We did it with direct TV. Had Bill sent to a relative in Lexington. Was nice for following UK

[KentuckyWildcat]

We did it with direct TV. Had Bill sent to a relative in Lexington. Was nice for following UK

I'm not 100% sure. Greenville is a little unique as it is split between Evansville or Nashville. YouTube let us choose and we chose Evansville. But I think it will pull of your IP and use the nearest town that YouTube carries for locals.

With Dish/Direct in Greenville, you can be neighbors and have different locals. It is very sporadic as to who has what. I guess it depends on who looks at your bill. But about a mile south, it is Nashville only. This is fine, but sometimes it makes it challenging to track storms depending on where it comes from. Sometimes we do not get coverage. Sorry, getting off topic now....

Either way YouTube is nice for the reasons Pedro stated. I have it. I don't watch it. But I have it

[dan_bgblue]

The AT&T fiber connection shows between 415 meg down and 551 meg down depending on which speed service I select to us and the up side varies from 176 up to 360 up depending on rating service. We run 2 streams to TV during the week along with 2 mobile phones and 2 laptop computers. I think the speed is only limited by the wirelesses router provided by AT&T which is rated at 500 meg down,That gets bumped up to 3 laptops and 1 tablet and an additional high speed gaming laptop on the weekends when our 2 grandsons camp out with us.

I never see an issue with speed but I do not run a business from home anymore either.

[PedroDaGr8]

Youtube looks like it has all I need. As for local channels, I am not sure I need the local CBS, NBC, ABC so long as I get a fed from their national coverage (IE I don't need Palm Beach NBC so long as I get Miami, or Atlanta, etcs feed). I think I might sign up for youtube and use it before we fully move. If it sucks then nix it.

So question concerning youtube TV...is there a box? an app (thus needs to be a "smart" TV)?


Edit: so I looked and if the TV has an APP then I just load it. I'm not sure all mine do. If not then I need a firestick, correct?

next question, when it asks location, that is for the local channels, correct? So if I put in say Lexington zip code, will that mean I get Lexington local channels?

If you go with YouTUbeTV then I would strongly recommend the GoogleChromecast with GoogleTV. YoutubeTV integrates into it seamlessly making it very very easy to use. Otherwise, Roku/AmazonFirestick/AppleTV/etc. should all work.

As for the location, it usually uses that to ensure you are where you say you are and to enforce streaming blackout rules.