DirecTV Now?

[psylence2k]

I've had both (currently DTV). Sling TV used to have a lot of issues but it's pretty solid now. My biggest issue with Sling is the lack of content and relatively low streaming quality (compared to others). DirecTV Now has awesome quality and a great lineup, but man stability is lousy right now. I went weeks with maybe one or two errors a day, but the last week it's been pretty bad on my end.

I also had Vue for a while. It's probably the best in terms of features and stability, but a little pricey (especially if you are "lucky" enough to get local channels) and the content has been a little sparse since they dropped Viacom.

I assume DTV Now's quality is 1080p. You're saying Sling's is lower than that ? How bad is it ?

I signed up recently for DTV now and just started really using like yesterday and it was nothing but freeze after freeze yesterday pretty much ever other minute and alot of unable to play errors today. I really hope they fix this within the next couple of months.

 

[aced411]

I assume DTV Now's quality is 1080p. You're saying Sling's is lower than that ? How bad is it ?

I signed up recently for DTV now and just started really using like yesterday and it was nothing but freeze after freeze yesterday pretty much ever other minute and alot of unable to play errors today. I really hope they fix this within the next couple of months.

It'll stream up to 1080p, but it's the bitrate that makes the biggest difference. I don't have statistics for all the services. Sling is certainly watchable and I like that they have apps for just about every device. I would recommend trying out the 7 day trial to see for yourself. I enjoyed Sling but it was missing a few channels I wanted and it seems to be a service focused on continuously expanding their sports lineup (I'm not into sports).

 

[Richard8655]

Switched over from Sling to DTVN yesterday. Traded stability for more choices and free ATV. We'll see how it goes for next 3 months. In that time, new streaming startups coming on board so competition should provide more options.

 

[mic j]

I assume DTV Now's quality is 1080p. You're saying Sling's is lower than that ? How bad is it ?

I signed up recently for DTV now and just started really using like yesterday and it was nothing but freeze after freeze yesterday pretty much ever other minute and alot of unable to play errors today. I really hope they fix this within the next couple of months.

I tried Sling when it first came out. Stuttered a lot and had low picture quality, so I dropped it. I think DirectTV Now is at the same point for streaming quality but the picture quality is excellent. I have had Directv (sat) and now have U-Verse. The picture quality is easily as good or better than U-Verse and very close, but maybe a little short, of sat. If 5.1 audio is important to you, DirecTV Now will disappoint you. It is 2-channel. That and the lack of a DVR will probably be the main reasons for my not continuing my subscription.

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

I signed up recently for DTV now and just started really using like yesterday and it was nothing but freeze after freeze yesterday pretty much ever other minute and alot of unable to play errors today. I really hope they fix this within the next couple of months.

So weird. I hardly ever get errors. While others get tons. There has to be some sort of commonality that is causing the problems..internet provider, router, settings...something. I just cannot fathom why some would get so many errors and others get far fewer.

 

[nburwell]

I'm still on the PS Vue 7 day free trial. While DTV Now feed froze several times on my iPad while watching the National Championship game, there were few hiccups with the Vue app when watching the game (on my iPad as well). At first I thought because maybe a lot of people were watching the game, but the PS Vue app didn't freeze (picture quality sometimes got a bit pixelated), but for the most part it was seamless.

I'm still going to stick it out with DTV Now until March (when I'm paid up until). But if these issues aren't corrected, I'm tempted to jump ship to Vue or even Hulu's live TV service.

 

[Gix1k]

Switched over from Sling to DTVN yesterday. Traded stability for more choices and free ATV. We'll see how it goes for next 3 months. In that time, new streaming startups coming on board so competition should provide more options.

Hate to be the one to deliver the bad news, but DTVN is just terrible using the ATV. It constantly freezes and gives a host of 150* related errors. You seriously cannot watch a channel for more than 10 minutes. Wife and I sleep with the TV on and it's silent all night. If I hadn't gotten the ATV for $105 and paid just 3 months service I'd be pissed and complaining. As soon as HULU releases their equivalent, I'm gone

 

[Richard8655]

Hate to be the one to deliver the bad news, but DTVN is just terrible using the ATV. It constantly freezes and gives a host of 150* related errors. You seriously cannot watch a channel for more than 10 minutes. Wife and I sleep with the TV on and it's silent all night. If I hadn't gotten the ATV for $105 and paid just 3 months service I'd be pissed and complaining. As soon as HULU releases their equivalent, I'm gone

So far pretty smooth. No regrets (yet). It's really curious why it works ok for one customer and not for another.

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

So far pretty smooth. No regrets (yet). It's really curious why it works ok for one customer and not for another.

I can only think that it is some kind of difference in hardware (router, cable modem, etc.) or something different about the ISP that needs addressing.

 

[d21mike]

So far pretty smooth. No regrets (yet). It's really curious why it works ok for one customer and not for another.

It is strange. I have been using it since day 1 without most of the problems that have been reported. My son who lives in a separate house has the same experience.
However, I have seen the freeze from time to time but it is rare.
Also, I mainly see the error codes when I first start the App after I wake up the Apple TV but not every time.
I find that if I do have an issue a swipe left and right it restarts fine. Again, only need to do it rarely.

And, I don't watch a lot during prime time which is where some say they have the most problems. I mainly use it to to watch live tv and I do not watch prime time shows with commercials. I use Hulu and CBS All Access with no commercials for that. If they come out with a DVR I would probably use that more but then you have the 2 streams consideration.

At this time DIRECTV Now is costing me a net $25 per month ($35 - $10 discount for HBO) and I got a FREE Apple TV so it is a really good deal. I look a the total cost per month for everything and compare that to what I had before. So, I may end up with multiple services in the end based on what you get with each service overall and also gives me some redundancy. But will see. Really love the new streaming options coming this year.

 

[jca24]

I can only think that it is some kind of difference in hardware (router, cable modem, etc.) or something different about the ISP that needs addressing.

I agree, i'm in DFW on tw spectrum and have had direct tv now since launch, just a couple of freezes so far. They will get the bugs worked out soon.

 

[Gix1k]

I think it has to do with Apple TV. I have 3 in my home and they all see the same problem. I also have several firesticks that running it and they rarely see the error. Problem is, the firestick is just so slow.

Tell me this doesn't look promising.

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

I think it has to do with Apple TV. I have 3 in my home and they all see the same problem. I also have several firesticks that running it and they rarely see the error. Problem is, the firestick is just so slow.

Tell me this doesn't look promising.

Yeah it looks very promising especially considering I use Hulu already. I like the idea of separating different users. It is SUCH a pain when other people's shows get mixed up in your list and you have to wade through shows and recommendations that just don't even apply to you.

 

[eyeseeyou]

So far pretty smooth. No regrets (yet). It's really curious why it works ok for one customer and not for another.

Same experience for me too
[doublepost=1484088128][/doublepost]

I think it has to do with Apple TV. I have 3 in my home and they all see the same problem. I also have several firesticks that running it and they rarely see the error. Problem is, the firestick is just so slow.

Tell me this doesn't look promising.

Presentation wise it looks interesting but really need to see the channel line up before I'd seriously consider it.

 

[tonyr6]

Presentation wise it looks interesting but really need to see the channel line up before I'd seriously consider it.

Same here and the big one I can't believe I am saying in 2017 but the channels I watch must be in HD no 480i crap.

 

[TheIntruder]

I've had the service since the start, and for me, the quality has actually declined.

Initially, things were smooth, with only an occasional glitch, but of late, particularly during the holidays and after, the stutters and errors are more frequent. It's been really noticeable with the local ABC affiliate, AMC, and others I frequently watch.

The fact that the same setup worked fine before, and not as well now, points to a capacity/server side issue as demand has increased (people watching more TV during the holiday break), and they've acquired more users.

I've also run into some bugs with the app itself, unrelated to streaming quality, where the UI basically wigged out, and I had to "force quit" the app.

None of this is a surprise, but the kinks will have to be ironed out if they hope to make this a success, against current and future competitors.

 

[javigarrido]

I'm cancelling in March. NBC live isn't available in the apple tv yet, and when I went to watch the Golden Globes last weekend in my laptop using DTV now, it showed me a screen saying that the show wasn't available for streaming. So DTV Now isn't live tv like I thought it would be. They can block live shows as they please.

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

I'm cancelling in March. NBC live isn't available in the apple tv yet, and when I went to watch the Golden Globes last weekend in my laptop using DTV now, it showed me a screen saying that the show wasn't available for streaming. So DTV Now isn't live tv like I thought it would be. They can block live shows as they please.

Yeah, but I think all steaming services are going to have that last problem. It is rather disappointing.

 

[bbeagle]

It is strange. I have been using it since day 1 without most of the problems that have been reported. My son who lives in a separate house has the same experience.

Same here. I've had no problems at all since I've started using it. I've never seen any error codes.

 

[BuffaloTF]

I think it has to do with Apple TV. I have 3 in my home and they all see the same problem. I also have several firesticks that running it and they rarely see the error. Problem is, the firestick is just so slow.

Tell me this doesn't look promising.

I wonder if it's about length of time watching? I've had that error, but only once. I'm totally in test drive mode here with regular DirecTV service, so my usage has been in 30-60 minute intervals. My biggest complaint is that it sometimes stutters, especially noticing this on NBC Sports during hockey games.

As far as Hulu... I think they may be the game changer. With Comcast (NBC), Disney (ABC), Fox and Time Warner being the owners, I hope that means they charge the service less for their own content to pick up the difference on the back end, and allow for more cash then to gather a larger number of other providers. I also hope that the 'multiple streams at once' coupled with the user profiles gives something comprable to Netflix, which gives 5 streams, so there's at least 4 allowed at once.

 

[Gix1k]

Same experience for me too
[doublepost=1484088128][/doublepost]

Presentation wise it looks interesting but really need to see the channel line up before I'd seriously consider it.

With them offering ABC, NBC, and CBS....that alone is a major win for me. Even with DTNW offering me 100 channels, I could do w/out 40 of them, if not more. I paid close attention last night and I got the error 1502 between 7 to 11 minutes consistently. As I said before, only reason I am not complaining to them is because I feel like I haven't paid to have it yet. Once 3 months is up, they'll hear from me or I hope HULU is out, so I can switch.

 

[Bmoreguy03]

I really am going to give AT&T one more month to get it right because seriously this freezing is unacceptable. Thats all I want I can deal with everything else just fix the freezing

 

[nburwell]

I really am going to give AT&T one more month to get it right because seriously this freezing is unacceptable. Thats all I want I can deal with everything else just fix the freezing

That is the what really bugs me the constant freezes and error messages I get. It seems to happen much more frequently with the Apple TV app then it does on the iOS app though. But regardless, they need to eliminate these issues if they expect people to stick with the service.

 

[AlliFlowers]

First problem encountered this morning. I'm on the basic plan, which includes things like MSNBC. So I was watching it this morning, and had been watching for quite some time when all of a sudden I got an error message saying I had to watch programming in my package. I tried changing channels, and got that on everything until I completely restarted.

 

[psylence2k]

As far as Hulu... I think they may be the game changer. With Comcast (NBC), Disney (ABC), Fox and Time Warner being the owners, I hope that means they charge the service less for their own content to pick up the difference on the back end, and allow for more cash then to gather a larger number of other providers. I also hope that the 'multiple streams at once' coupled with the user profiles gives something comprable to Netflix, which gives 5 streams, so there's at least 4 allowed at once.

What's being reported is that for the under $40 (probably 39.99) base package you'll be allowed only 2 streams, you can pay more for other packages in order to get more streams though.