Thinking about switching over. I'd have to upgrade to "smart" TV's, which may be a deal breaker, need to check prices on those.

Questions:

1. I have a DSL line to the house. Has been 99% fine for streaming video from Netflix and Amazon Prime. On rare occasions a little hesitation/latency. If I'm streaming Netflix in the Man Cave and the wife is streaming whatever in the living room, am I likely to have data rate problems?

2. How are channels selected? Wife is a bit of a technophobe, if there are radical changes in procedure, that could be an issue. I'm guessing the remote that would come with the new TV would handle it and all we'd need to do is adapt our channel list?

3. Which package do you have? Are you happy with it? Local channels?

You don't have to upgrade to a smart TV, and in fact, doing so likely wouldn't give you access to DirecTV Now since it's an app on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Google Chromecast devices. (https://www.directvnow.com/devices)

1) This is going to depend on how fast your DSL is... DirecTV Now recommends a minimum 12 Mbps. (https://help.directvnow.com/hc/en-us/articles/211978106-Internet-speed-recommendations-for-optimal-streaming)

2) You can select from a guide (the familiar grid), or search shows, or see what's showing now across channels, etc.

3) I have the minimum package plus HBO for $40 ($35 plus $5 for HBO), and it's more than I need since I rarely watch TV. It includes local channels, but that's dependent on your zip code. (http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/packProg/attLocalChannels.jsp?assetId=att_cms_local_channels)

Well, that's a non-starter then. My DSL is <3MBPS

That might work if you're only streaming on one device, but it would probably get buggy with two at the same time... I had 25 Mbps for a while and even that would bog down sometimes when people were over running multiple devices.

FWIW, DirecTV Now is much better today than it was when AT&T introduced it. I cut the cord several years ago and jumped on the initial offer a year ago, and cancelled it almost immediately because it wasn't close to being ready for prime time. Gave it another chance this past November, and it's pretty good these days.

1. You don’t need any smart TV’s Just a Roku or other streaming device, $20-$50

2. You can get by with 3 Mbps. You might not get the best HD, but IIRC Netflix states 1.5 Mbps is the bare minimum to stream and 3 MBps and up will get you HD streams.

I use SlingTV and have 4mbps internet. 1 stream works OK - 2.8mbps looks like HD, anything else going in/out the pipe can affect it. If we're watching together & not screwing with our phones, it's fine. If I'm doing anything else on the 'net, I get screamed at. I have QOS set up on my router so that the FireTVs get priority (just behind the wife's laptop).
We've done it just over a year - saving 125/month is worth it - but I don't watch TV much at all anymore. I miss my MLB & college BB, but so far not enough to put satellite back in. When the kid gets older & starts demanding TV, we'll probably go back. another year or 2, so another couple of sigs in the safe....

You need to check with your internet provider on what your data limit is. Everything is going to be streamed with DirecTV Now so it will eat up your data limit.

I am allowed 1TB/month with Cox and that isn't enough to stream all the TV in our house each month.

There's an apple 4k tv floating around with Direct TV now: $105.

I have had it for over a year. Got in on the introductory offer at $35 a month for over 100 channels plus they added HBO for free. Not that I ever watch HBO. It was worthless at first. The app kept crashing and constant buffering. I stuck with it figuring they would get it fixed and they did so I still got that initial introductory package deal.

I get it through Amazon Fire tv. Between the two I have more tv than I will ever watch.
Also I am one of the Beta testers for DirecTv Now. Their new app has a better guide for selecting channels and has dvr functions which are nice. They added some new channels on the beta app as well.

I have 20 MBS internet service and I still will have buffering issues. I'm pretty sure my internet service gets choked back at times because when the tv buffers my lap top is slow at the same time.
Right now we have 3 tv's with DirecTv Now and Amazon Fire installed. We can watch 2 tv's no problem but the system will not let you watch 3.

I have learned that when I'm done watching to shut the app down manually not just shut the tv off. It will keep streaming until you manually shut it down. It's about 6 extra strokes of the remote to do it but it's gotta be done. It also allows you to clear the cache at the same time which helps with the streaming. DirecTv Now's web site has a user forum that will answer a lot of questions and give you a lot of tips and tricks for using the app. It can be very helpful.

Overall I'm very pleased with it. It's been a big money saver. I have way more tv than I will ever watch.

We signed up for DirectTV Now a few weeks ago. We also got the base package plus HBO for $40/mo. We also kept the base package from Uverse for local channels and the base cable stuff most of which is not on the base DirectTV. We're saving a lot of money, but the interface is very challenging for my wife and I get called over often to get her on a channel she wants. I guess the biggest deal is you can't DVR the DTV streaming channels. She likes to record a few HBO shows since they conflict with other shows she might want to watch. The only option is to depend on HBOGO, which is a different app on the Roku. There is a lag in time, usually days, before live aired shows are available on HBOGO. It is a learning curve for sure. I've a feeling the interfaces will improve down the line.

quote:

Originally posted by NavyGuy:
We signed up for DirectTV Now a few weeks ago. We also got the base package plus HBO for $40/mo. We also kept the base package from Uverse for local channels and the base cable stuff most of which is not on the base DirectTV. We're saving a lot of money, but the interface is very challenging for my wife and I get called over often to get her on a channel she wants. I guess the biggest deal is you can't DVR the DTV streaming channels. She likes to record a few HBO shows since they conflict with other shows she might want to watch. The only option is to depend on HBOGO, which is a different app on the Roku. There is a lag in time, usually days, before live aired shows are available on HBOGO. It is a learning curve for sure. I've a feeling the interfaces will improve down the line.

DVR capability is coming. I have it on their beta app and it works well. I don't use it much as I'm not a big tv watcher. It's usually on as background noise and not much else.