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RIP Orby TV........................Anyone know an alternative


joessportster

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Yep out of Business, We bought and paid for the service almost since inception. Today I wake to no programming start looking around online and sure enough  Orby posted a message on the website. Sorry & Thanks...........................I feared this very thing back when we bought in !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

So now I am unable to stream due to poor (at best) available internet, I refuse to pay 100.00 a month for SCHIIT service from the normal suspects like Dish and Direct. Spectrum will not provide service due to some arcane line drawn in the sand years ago giving Windstream sole coverage of the area (nevermind the fact that Windstream only offers poor internet and wants you to bundle with dish, Talk about a monthly screwing !!!!!!!!!!!!)

 

The things you do not take into account when you move into new diggs (6 years ago)

 

Anyone know a tried and true alternative that works in a rural setting ???  I have an over the air Antenna and can pick up a few stations which for me would be fine,  however the Wife and Boys have a different opinion of the over air offerings. 

 

Dish and Direct with there BS added fees and constant rate hikes along with the contracts that secure 12 month rates but allow them to charge what ever they want for the remaining 12 months on the contract are a non starter.............................

 

(for those here that wonder how I am able to access this site I pay for cell data and tether my phone, but that too gets VERY slow after 10GB of data use, And streaming would eat up that data in no time at all)

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Dish was crap for me many years ago and so was cable. My Direct went up $10 w/o notice last month, but it's the best quality I've had. Somebody's going to get your money whether you think they deserve it or not.

SSH

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You and I are in the very same boat, Joe. It is hard to believe in this day and age that fast Internet is not available. I too am using cell service and the 10GB cap is a killer for anything except basic web page browsing. Dish/Direct are painful enough as a TV provider but forget them for Internet. OTA antenna is what it is given where you live. It has probably your local 3 ABC/NBC/CBS but that seem archaic these days.

 

SpaceX's Elon is launching Starlink and some people are already in Beta with it. Not available in my area yet. I'm hopeful that when it is, it is better than other Satellite Internet providers. I'm seriously thinking about moving because if the world has not come to me in almost 18 years....I don't think they will. Just a guess, but I think the local cable companies won't invest in laying more cable to rural locations as everyone expects 5G to be the magic bullet. 4G was not and it also took forever to get rural towers updated. I think we are just stuck.

 

Check out Starlink. For now they say no monthly contract. https://www.starlink.com/ It is in Beta so not quite ready for prime time. Personally, if I could get it today even with the high cost up front, I would. I'm willing to try anything new/different at this point.

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I have a rural place near Henderson NC. The only available close to decent internet is through US Cellular. I have a cellular modem/router and can stream video just fine. However they do have data limits on the plans and it can get expensive.

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40 minutes ago, rplace said:

 

Cradlepoint or something else? Do tell.

 

The hardware is made by D-Link, uses a sim card like a cell phone. Bought it through US Cellular when I signed up for the plan. Unfortunately no other good options that far out but it is a game changer for us allowing us to work remotely from there. , I am looking forward to seeing how the Space-X internet works once they have it up and running.

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1 hour ago, rplace said:

Check out Starlink. For now they say no monthly contract. https://www.starlink.com/ It is in Beta so not quite ready for prime time. Personally, if I could get it today even with the high cost up front, I would. I'm willing to try anything new/different at this point.

Coming out mid 2021 in my area.  $499 for equipment and $99/mo for the service.

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14 minutes ago, babadono said:

I'm an old cheap bastard. Better be pretty darn good for that kinda coin.

 

That is because you probably have at least one (maybe more) cable provider that bundles high speed internet and/or a phone company like Verizon/ATT, etc. that offer high speed Internet via telephone/cable infrastructure. I guarantee if you did not you would think differently.

 

Imagine you did not have running water at your house...its not that far of a stretch. If you did not have electricity or water at your house and every single neighbor that you could see just 1/4 mile away did you would be beyond pissed that the water/electricity company was allowed to not serve you simply because it was not easy for them to do so. Comcast is huge and people, rightfully so, hate them. I don't even have the option to pay too much, get $hitty customer service and watch my rates get raised every year. 

 

If you woke up tomorrow and the ability to have high speed Internet at your house was 100% gone no matter the price you would have a raging hard on for something like the promise of Starlink. First world problems for sure. And yes I realize water is slightly different than Internet...but try and explain that to your kids that you are one of only 20 houses in the entire county that don't have something every other household big and small, cheap and expensive have....or have the ability to have.

 

Seriously try and think of not having at least the ability to stream Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, HBO MAX. No unlimited porn viewing, no online gaming for your kids. No music streaming. No downloading big file in seconds. No way to watch Youtube. No video conferencing, no WiFi for you phone that in turn lets you FaceTime with your grand kids on the other side of the country. I'm telling you once you have had it and it is gone you feel like  you live in a 3rd world county. 

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20 minutes ago, babadono said:

website says i can order today and pay the first $99 and then get in line and wait....and wait......and wait   Oh boy can't wait.

 

I was the 3rd house built in my development of 20 houses. We all thought the cable company that services every other house in the county would build out the infrastructure. They chose not to. Starlink is filling the need that exists. What are you bitching about that you have to wait?

 

I've waited 18 years and countless calls to my local government officials to ask why they let this continue. I don't even get my calls returned. Starlink it literally putting rockets into space and launching satellites that will blanket the entire surface of the earth. He is risking a lot more than my cable company not sticking a wire under the street because they think 20 houses is not worth the effort.

 

Those who have options won't use Starlink, for the simple reason those options are better/cheaper...but it would be nice to have options, no?

 

I can remember a time when kids at school had Cable TV and our neighborhood didn't have it....YET....there used to be streets that did not have street lights or were not even paved. Things typically happen over time not available to all people at exactly the same time. But you kind of have the feeling it is eventually coming.

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3 minutes ago, CECAA850 said:

Always looking for alternatives.  You can't have too many choices.

 

True dat. I think the latency and cost would make anyone with a standard broadband abilities to quickly go the other direction. 

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@rplace take it easy,  I'm with you. Did you read my post? My service BLOWS also. I'm in an area where the fiber optic cable stops about  a mile from my house. They put it in during the early 2000s real estate boom, then in the crash of 2008-9 they stopped. Upon calling was told we ain't coming out any further, sucks to be you.

1 hour ago, rplace said:

That is because you probably have at least one (maybe more) cable provider that bundles high speed internet and/or a phone company like Verizon/ATT, etc. that offer high speed Internet via telephone/cable infrastructure. I guarantee if you did not you would think differently.

Nope, no cable. Just an old copper landline telephone wire with SLOW DSL. TV is Dish or DirecTV or OTA(uh-huh).

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Same boat after moving “to the country” . Went with Dish with a two year contract and have been happy so far. Their CS has been pretty decent as well. Our little burg has an independent internet provider and their service has been very good. Cost is “reasonable” and they are very accessible, even walk in and speak with owner with questions. So we have two dishes on the house - big disc for Dish, small disc for internet - . And yes I did consider this situation prior to moving - 

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@babadono We were posting around the same time and your first two post struck me as sort of pissy. "Better be good for that kind of money" and "I have to wait...wait...wait". Obviously a sensitive subject with me. It has been more than frustrating to see Armstrong Cable trucks (local and only cable provider in our area) as well as the big boy's Verizon trucks plastered with Fios all over them hauling big reels of orange fiber up and down the road that leads to my development 5-6 years ago and neither the cable company or Verizon would put down cable or fiber to our particular development. I talked to Verizon Business and told them I would pay the first $10,000 for our neighborhood and I could easily get 12-18 other house holds to kick in some of the costs associated for a relatively small group. Crickets.

 

Telephone companies had to service every household if they moved into a particular region back in the day, IIRC. They could not pick and choose the easy or profitable locations. Its frustrating to be in the IT industry and constantly explaining to my paying customers that I don't really have Internet at my house and that it's because I can't get it. My neighbor's house literally borders the lawn of another development that has every cable/phone capability in our area. She and the rest of us get nothing. 

 

As the houses were built and our neighborhood filled up this has become a real issue with multiple families and lots of kids. A few of the houses have sold since the initial building and the new neighbors from around 2015 and beyond, (not 2003-2004 originals) are flabbergasted that they bought a $500-700K house and can't get Internet at their address. Again, first world problems I realize. The word is out in surrounding communities and resale is seriously becoming an issue. Escape your 1/4 acre lot and give your kids 5-10 acres to stretch their legs, buy a 4-wheeler, maybe a horse or two....wait that is the place the other kids make fun of because they can't watch Youtube or play on-lines games with their classmates. Let's look elsewhere. All the neighbors are beyond frustrated. Their calls to local officials fall on deaf ears as do mine. I can't imagine that happening back in the days when sewers, electricity and water were coming to rural neighborhoods. I've got one neighbor that say his college kids won't come back home on the weekends/holiday because they won't go without being connected to the "real" world 24/7/365.''

 

@richieb It would be a different story if the neighborhood was established and we knew what we were getting into up front. If I were retired and relocating, I cold easily get my head around that and make the decision if it were right for me. Personally I welcome the day I can disconnect. If it were not for work I might even prefer a place with limited connectivity.

 

EDIT: Should note I'm not talking about living on the side of a mountain in Montana on 500 acres without another human being in sight. I'm just 10 miles from I-95. People commute to Philly, D.C. and Baltimore from my area. Not remote in any sense. 

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30 minutes ago, rplace said:

Should note I'm not talking about living on the side of a mountain in Montana on 500 acres without another human being in sight. I'm just 10 miles from I-95. People commute to Philly, D.C. and Baltimore from my area. Not remote in any sense. 

Roger. And I'm 15 to 20 minutes from I-15 halfway between LA MetroPlex and the San Diego MetroPlex. And service sucks.

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