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Picture of bayouman
posted
I am considering dropping my cable TV, keeping my cable Internet and getting HULU. I don't know a lot about it but figured someone here is experienced with it Questions

Does it work off of my Internet or some sort of adapter and how does it connect ?

Does the customer set it up or a technician come and hook it up ?

Customer service issues ?

Many thanks


Bayouman
Never let the enemy pick the battle site.
 
Posts: 727 | Location: New Orleans, Louisiana  | Registered: June 28, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Hulu runs off of your internet connection. I use a Roku to access it, but most smart tvs have it built in, as does Amazon's fire stick.

There are three levels of Hulu plans. The basic is $5.99/month. That will get you a ton of TV shows, but you will have ads on them.

They have an ad-free plan, which I believe is around $10-12/month.

Then they have what they call Hulu Live TV, which is actually a pretty full television channel lineup. Hulu Live TV is $45/month, so it's definitely not cheap and probably not what you are looking for.

Added based on your other questions - no technicians involved, and there is really nothing to set up other than entering your username and password into the app on your Roku/smart TV/fire stick, etc.

No issues with customer service. They actually LOWERED the monthly fee by a couple bucks just recently. I'm assuming to compete with Netflix.

For what it's worth - I also have Sling TV's "Blue" package as a supplement to Hulu. It is also completely internet based, but gives you the advantage of Live TV and some sports.

https://www.sling.com/
 
Posts: 1168 | Registered: July 06, 2016Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Raised Hands Surround Us
Three Nails To Protect Us
Picture of Black92LX
posted Hide Post
You need a steaming device of sorts.
Your TV if a smart tv likely has the app to be downloaded.
Just hook an Ethernet cable up to the TV or WiFi if it has it.
Sign up with Hulu enter your email and password in the app on your streaming device of choice and you are done.
No tech needed really.


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Posts: 25353 | Registered: September 06, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Drill Here, Drill Now
Picture of tatortodd
posted Hide Post
There are two Hulu's:
  • The one that costs $9 per month and is similar to Netflix
  • Hulu Live which costs $40 per month and gives you live TV. I switched to this last August for College football, but I'm using it enough I'm keeping it so far in the off season.

    You need a high speed internet connection. Wired or wireless depending on your "adapter" (using OP's terminology).

    You may or may not need an "adapter" (Hulu calls them devices):
  • Most 2017 or newer smart TVs have an app that can do Hulu Live. Link for list of Hulu devices that support Hulu Live.
  • If your TV isn't one of the above, then you'll need an "adapter" such as Roku, AppleTV, FireTV, etc. Last August, the one getting the best ratings was the Roku Streaming Stick+ since it did everything the more expensive models did, but in a less expensive and smaller device. My smart TVs are 2015 so they would only do the $9 per month Hulu so I bought one Roku Streaming Stick+ and two Roku Ultras (only reason is they worked with my expensive remotes).



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    Posts: 23098 | Location: Northern Suburbs of Houston | Registered: November 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    eh-TEE-oh-clez
    Picture of Aeteocles
    posted Hide Post
    Hulu is an online streaming video service. Your monthly subscription gives you access to the service via the internet.

    In order to get video from the internet to your TV you will either need a "smart" TV that has the Hulu app already installed or available to install, or you will need a streaming media device.

    There are many streaming media devices--some come built into DVD and Bluray players, into video game consoles like Playstations or XBoxes, or you can by stand alone streaming media devies. Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, are all examples of streaming media devices.

    You set up Hulu yourself. You buy the subscription online, and then you enter your account credentials into onto whatever device you plan on watching, either your TV or your streaming media device. You can, in some instances, watch Hulu directly from your web browser on your computer or from your Phone.

    There should not be customer service issues, as they don't really provide much in the way of service. Either their service is up and functioning, or it's not. They are not responsible for the devices that you are using to connect to the service, or your internet connection.
     
    Posts: 13046 | Location: Orange County, California | Registered: May 19, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Nullus Anxietas
    Picture of ensigmatic
    posted Hide Post
    You acquire a streaming device you hook to your TV (via HDMI), such as a Roku, Apple TV, Amazon FireTV, Android TV device, etc. Then you install the Hulu app (if it doesn't come installed, by default) and subscribe to Hulu in much the same way you'd subscribe to Netflix or any other streaming service.

    It uses your Internet connection to stream from Hulu's servers. The streaming device will likely have WiFi. You'll likely configure it do use that, unless it can take an Ethernet (wired) connection and you have one available.

    The customer buys the streaming device, hooks it up and configures things.

    Personally, I've never been all that impressed with Hulu's offerings, but to each their own.



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    Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Stupid
    Allergy
    Picture of dry-fly
    posted Hide Post
    Personally I think YouTube TV and PlayStation Vue are better than Hulu.


    "Attack life, it's going to kill you anyway." Steve McQueen...
     
    Posts: 6996 | Location: TEXAS | Registered: July 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    We use an Amazon fire stick. It plugs in to any HDMI port on your TV. Hulu is built in but you do need to subscribe. We did upgrade to no advertisements which puts us at about 11.00/mo. We subscribed to watch Seinfeldt re-runs and that's about all I watch. The wifey really enjoys a bunch of reruns. On a side note it does have a weird user interface.
     
    Posts: 7523 | Registered: October 31, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    blame canada
    Picture of AKSuperDually
    posted Hide Post
    Be sure to check the huli website to see what their offerings are. You may find yourself happier with amazon prime and/or netflix.

    I get Huli usually every winter, and cancel every spring.

    We keep prime year round, usually with the PBS masterpeice channel. We'll add HBO or Starz when a series we like is on, usually only for a month or two to watch the series and any new movies. Then we cancel.

    Netflix we keep year round, but consider dropping at least twice a year. Typically they release a bunch of half decent stuff right about the time we're ready to cancel.

    Google play? and youtube tv are newer for us. I pay the youtube fee, and find myself watching more and more of that. Lately we're enthralled with sailing around the world channels. Google used to have the best pricing on television series we liked (mostly history channel and discovery channel series), but lately they're just as competitive as fandango and amazon.

    Fandango may be another service to consider. All or nearly all movies and tv series are for purchase, but the pricing is usually good. The mobile app is awesome in its data compression. I can fit more fandango movies on my tablet for air travel than I can with netflix or amazon. There is no fee for fandango, but you purchase your movies and tv shows. They typically have the newest releases and the same or slightly better prices than other services. The bundles on movies is a good deal. You can buy all bond films, or all bourne films...for what equates to $5-8 for each movie. Watch for sales and buy bundles.

    Analyzing money spent purchasing movies and paying subscriptions (ignoring internet costs) we're spending more per month than we did with satellite service. The difference is we never run out of something to watch, and most of our movies are purchased. Even though we have to keep access to a service to see movies we've paid to "own", it feels like a win over satellite or cable. Cable isn't available where we live and satellite is spotty. I find myself going in phases or purchasing 4K and bluray discs again... internet service isn't always guaranteed where we live.


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    Posts: 13939 | Location: On the mouth of the great Kenai River | Registered: June 24, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    Hulu's base package content is a little light to me. It was the first package I bought for a promo $ 1/mnth for 12months.

    I wouldn't buy it untill you've reviewed all other streaming packages out there.

    You need a roko to manage/view these streaming packages.

    The best thing I did was cut tv cable off and invest in an over the air antenna which give me 36 free channels.

    I do have 4 rokus, 1 for each tv and these streaming product two of which we were using on laptops so they are already being consumed paid for before cutting cable; Netflix, Amazon prime video.

    I bought these just for the cable cut/streaming roku initiative; philo(16.99/mnth and hulu $1/mnth).

    Theres a few free streaming packages out there. I use pluto which has a few midly entertaining shows and old tv series.
     
    Posts: 464 | Location: NC | Registered: March 23, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Joie de vivre
    Picture of sig229-SAS
    posted Hide Post
    We use Prime and Netflix, they have as much or more than we need to watch. Someday we may add Hulu, for a few shows but for now we are happy with what we have.

    Internet in the mountains of NC is iffy at best but we still watch everything we want with almost no slow down even at 40 megs or less.
     
    Posts: 3848 | Location: 1,960' up in Murphy, NC | Registered: January 29, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    Picture of jbcummings
    posted Hide Post
    My experience so far is with an Apple 4K TV and the Hulu Live ($40/month). It’s a decent enough replacement for our old DirecTv setup. I get nearly all of the relevant channels and Fox Sports regionals. It could be the Apple TV or the Hulu service, regardless, there are times when it fails to connect. If I go watch Netflix for any length of time, coming back to Hulu is a dice roll. Maybe it will connect right up and maybe it won’t. I’d call it 50/50. Is it the app on Apple or the Hulu service or my connection. I honestly have no idea. I doubt it’s the connection because other devices don’t seem to be affected. I can’t tell you it’s the Hulu service either because there are too many other possibilities. But I can tell you, there’s no one that I’m aware of at Hulu that you can call to get technical support from. Their idea of support is a web based FAQ.


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    Posts: 4306 | Location: DFW | Registered: May 21, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Lucky to be Irish
    posted Hide Post
    I just dropped off my cable boxes about two weeks ago and went to streaming for our house. I was paying about $170 per month for cable and internet.

    I bought the Amazon Firestick. Simple to set up let me choose what content to stream.

    I upgraded my internet service and subscribed to Hulu with Live TV. Now I get far better programming than before, plus the benefit of Live TV. My cost is $70 for internet service and $40 for Hulu with live TV, so I save about $60/mo.

    It took a little experimenting to eliminate the "buffering" (freeze frame or hesitation with the image) but now it works really well.

    You could do it for less with the one time charge for the Firestick, standard internet and the basic hulu pkg, but I've got a wife who was not really "on board" with the whole idea, so I wanted to be sure it worked well! You can go to Hulu.com and see your options for their service.
     
    Posts: 1770 | Location: Mason, OH | Registered: October 19, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    We just cut the cord 2 weeks ago. Call your cable company. You’ll want to ask how much for unlimited streaming?

    We have a smart tv. The apps for Hulu, you tube etc should all be listed. We have 3 dumb tv’s $ went the roku express from Wally World... $ 30.00 each. Easy hook up for all units.

    I think you can get trial offers of a week to see what you like best. We went with you tube tv.
    I think the picture quality is better through internet rather than cable.

    If your modem or router is old, you may need to upgrade. Plenty of folks here to help ya out, just ask!
     
    Posts: 5768 | Location: west 'by god' virginia | Registered: May 30, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    Also check out PSVUE and Direct tv to go. All of them have a trial period of a week or two. Both of these offer better channel line ups and features than Hulu live IMO. I went with PSVUE (by Sony) and it offers free dvr, can use on up to 4 devices, never any buffering issues, HD signal.

    Even though I have a smart tv, I went with a roku box because the interface is so much easier to use than the Samsung one.
     
    Posts: 21335 | Registered: June 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    I'm just learning myself, and I think you need a fast internet connection for most to work well. You then hook up a smart TV or device to your TV and connect to the internet, usually by entering your wifi password using your TV remote.

    I have both a Roku, and a smartcast(?maybe chromecast) TVs, and unlimited data over fiber so I don't notice many bandwidth issues. Both work well, have apps like Amazon Prime, Hulu, Vudu, and others pre installed. Both remotes are laid out different, not sure which I like best, Roku has no numbers, but functions in some ways I have learned to appreciate.

    Pluto TV or Watchfree seem the closest to normal cable/hdtv function, might be a good place to start, or try to online to see what is available and if your internet is sufficient.

    I Like the watchfree channel layout on the smartcast, and it gets channels (MadMoney)I haven't found on the Roku, and all this is free minus the cost of data/internet. I put up with ads since it is free, but they usually aren't many, and some channels tell me how many ads will be on so I know if I have time to get snacks without pausing.

    Also have access to Amazon Prime, and a HDTV antenna for local news and programming. More to watch than I have time for.

    I'm just now learning about private channels, seems like it was the napster of streaming not long ago, but it looks like it has been tamed a bit recently. Still looking for a channel for the Walking Dead that doesn't need a subscription, or has old episodes. I hope I can find OANN or PJM as a private channel too since I don't see them on any free listings yet.

    Biggest issue for me is learning to wait for 'channels' or apps to load, switching between channels or scanning to see what is on isn't always simple, easy or fast like cable or dish. Also wish they all had better buffering, would make it easier for folks with limited bandwidth.

    Hope you find something that works well for you, and I'll be watching to learn more.


    ________________________________________________________
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    Posts: 278 | Registered: October 31, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    posting without pants
    Picture of KevinCW
    posted Hide Post
    It works well on my Fire stick.





    Strive to live your life so when you wake up in the morning and your feet hit the floor, the devil says "Oh crap, he's up."
     
    Posts: 33287 | Location: St. Louis MO | Registered: February 15, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    posted Hide Post
    A member posted this link for comparison, I just copied it & don’t know who to credit.

    So much better than cable,we even added Netflix.
    No contract, just sign up & play. You may have to copy & paste the below link.

    https://www.cnet.com/news/dire...v-channels-compared/
     
    Posts: 5768 | Location: west 'by god' virginia | Registered: May 30, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Member
    Picture of bigdeal
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by dry-fly:
    Personally I think YouTube TV and PlayStation Vue are better than Hulu.
    ^^^This. Before you subscribe, try and do a free test run of each to try and determine which one is best for you. I did the same thing and personally prefer YouTube TV.

    Oh, and if you do settle on YouTube TV, you'll want to use a Roku device or Google Chromecast (my least favorite streaming device) instead of a Fire TV Stick. Amazon and Google are still in a pissing contest with each other, so YouTube and Youtube TV aren't really supported on the Fire devices very well.


    -----------------------------
    Guns are awesome because they shoot solid lead freedom. Every man should have several guns. And several dogs, because a man with a cat is a woman. Kurt Schlichter
     
    Posts: 33845 | Location: Orlando, FL | Registered: April 30, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    No, not like
    Bill Clinton
    Picture of BigSwede
    posted Hide Post
    Looking into this. Any body have updates? Advice on Apple TV? Looking to drop Direct TV



     
    Posts: 5299 | Location: GA | Registered: September 23, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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