ATV xFinity support...

[gpspad]

A few years ago I setup my parents with ATV‘s and a SD Prime tuner with a cable card. They watch via the channels app, and it took them A while to get comfortable with it. It has allowed them to have a bunch of tv’s where they could have never afforded to if they had to rent tuners from xfinity.

the fcc has gotten rid of the cable card requirements and the SD Prime tuner cards days may be numbered.

i Really hate the idea of going from an ATV to a roku box. Has their been any news of xfinity finally supporting other streaming boxes?

I would love to stear the towards something like youtube tv but they will never be able to just drop cable.

 

[seinman]

Don't hold your breath. It's been in perpetual beta on Roku, and it sucks. I should note that I'm a regular user of the app on Roku. It's laggy, crashy, and lacking many useful features. I am fully convinced that, instead of expanding to support other platforms, Comcast will actually stop supporting the Roku app soon, now that they have their own streaming device available for customers.

 

[gpspad]

I guess my parents are just going to have to get used to the idea that they will have to pay a lot of money to Comcast, or move onto something like Youtube TV.

I am trying to get their house setup for the day when TV is provided through streaming and ethernet. But they have no options for internet providers either and don't see 5G in my area changing the the comcast monopoloy.

It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't just so greedy with the device rental fees.

 

[HDFan]

A few years ago I setup my parents with ATV‘s and a SD Prime tuner with a cable card.

Not sure I understand your problem. A cable card allowed you to access a cable TV providers content without having to buy/rent a cable tv box. With the dropping of support for the cable cards, you just buy an approved cable tv box.

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If there is an Apple TV app for your content, such as HBO, then you can just use the Apple TV to access it. Not all channel apps support Comcast authentication, unfortunately.

Edited to fix some errors.

 

[BJMRamage]

We moved recently and the Coax plugs dont all work so we opted to get ROKU devices to stream Xfinity via Stream App on Roku. Currently we have an Express, an Ultra, and a TV and ALL have constant issues. They drop our authorization constantly and we need to sign in again....which can take just 1 try or days to get service again. Xfinity Reps are a joke since they don't know much about the App - "please call the manufacturer about this issue" [it is YOUR app]...."do you check the box on the app to remember you" [there is no box you sign in via browser link with code..."it is probably just a busy time to stream" [no this happens at ANY time of day]. any other App I have on ROKU will work...but not Xfinity. This could just be some issue on my end that techs can't figure out.

I REALLY wanted to just have AppleTVs but with the stream app I needed to buy ROKU. unfortunately I dont think Xfinity cares about this half-baked app but only did so to appease a gov't mandate of not needing a cable card but probably figured out a way to say you can just stream on any other device besides a TV with an app so no need to focus on this.

Honestly I wouldn't mind to pay a monthly surcharge to use a non-Xfinity streaming device instead of renting from Xfinity (especially since i am having issues) and have an App for any device that allows you to stream Xfinity TV. Then I could have had the AppleTV hooked with an App to use - an app that ISN'T in BETA form.

The next thought is to just get internet and get a TV service elsewhere streaming but those just seem to all go up in price anyway.

 

[gpspad]

Not sure I understand your problem. A cable card allowed you to access a cable TV providers content without having to buy/rent a cable tv box. With the dropping of support for the cable cards, you just buy an approved cable tv box.

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Learn about customer-owned, off-market TV Boxes.

www.xfinity.com

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If there is an Apple TV app for your content, such as HBO, then you can just use the Apple TV to access it. Not all channel apps support Comcast authentication, unfortunately.

Edited to fix some errors.

The problem is that older people have a certain TV experience they expect; and its not a hodge lodge of apps they have to scroll through.

Younger people can deal with it, and have left traditional cable in droves. That leaves the cable companies getting every penny they can from users unwilling to peace meal their TV.

I have yet to see one of these boxes you can buy outright. The cable card with channels solution literally saved then about $30 a month or $360 a year on rental fees. I hope I can keep it going for them until some 5G wireless solution forces things to change.

But as someone that is tech savvy, its sad to see a few cable monopolies get in the way of all the cools things put TV's and devices could do, just because they need to get billions in rentals fees off of us.

 

[gpspad]

We moved recently and the Coax plugs dont all work so we opted to get ROKU devices to stream Xfinity via Stream App on Roku. Currently we have an Express, an Ultra, and a TV and ALL have constant issues. They drop our authorization constantly and we need to sign in again....which can take just 1 try or days to get service again. Xfinity Reps are a joke since they don't know much about the App - "please call the manufacturer about this issue" [it is YOUR app]...."do you check the box on the app to remember you" [there is no box you sign in via browser link with code..."it is probably just a busy time to stream" [no this happens at ANY time of day]. any other App I have on ROKU will work...but not Xfinity. This could just be some issue on my end that techs can't figure out.

I REALLY wanted to just have AppleTVs but with the stream app I needed to buy ROKU. unfortunately I dont think Xfinity cares about this half-baked app but only did so to appease a gov't mandate of not needing a cable card but probably figured out a way to say you can just stream on any other device besides a TV with an app so no need to focus on this.

Honestly I wouldn't mind to pay a monthly surcharge to use a non-Xfinity streaming device instead of renting from Xfinity (especially since i am having issues) and have an App for any device that allows you to stream Xfinity TV. Then I could have had the AppleTV hooked with an App to use - an app that ISN'T in BETA form.

The next thought is to just get internet and get a TV service elsewhere streaming but those just seem to all go up in price anyway.

Thanks for the reply, I did try the samsung xfinity app, that doesn't seem to be the answer. As you said a very different experience.

With the new apple TVOS supporting some video cameras I would be very happy to have the apple tv be my TV.

In a perfect world I could get internet for about $60 a month and then add on something like youtube tv.

Unfortunately my research into home 5g makes it seems like it is still years away from be an xfinity competitor for internet service, unless you live in a major city and I have no doubt xfinity will be lobbying against any expansion into those markets.

 

[HDFan]

I have yet to see one of these boxes you can buy outright.

They are out there.

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Unfortunately my research into home 5g makes it seems like it is still years away from be an xfinity competitor for internet service,

If you want the fastest speeds it may never be. Cable DOCSIS 4 will support 10 Gbs down, 6 Gbs up. Current tests show 5G midband runs in the 100-900 Mbps range. Millimeter 5G is the fastest at 1 Gbs, but for now has only limited usefulness due to limited range, inability to go through walls, etc.

 

[pmiles]

Why not just get a cable modem, run an ethernet cable to the AppleTV and connect the AppleTV to your TV using HDMI. You don't need to rent anything from Comcast, but you will have to pay for their internet access... easily far cheaper than their cable channels.

You can add an OTA antenna to the TV and get local channels for free assuming you live close to a city. Add Hulu for $7 a month and you can get a lot of the TV content a day or two after it airs. Hell you can add all the streaming apps, just choose when to have an active subscription. Content can be viewed at any time, not just when it airs originally. So a smart shopper has many streaming apps but only actually pays a subscription to one at any given time. So Hulu for a month... then CBS All Access... etc.

With Comcast you're paying for a boat load of stuff that you will never actually watch and for a lot of stuff that you can actually get for free with an OTA.

Cut the cord..... cut... the... cord. It's 2020, Comcast is milking you with their cable service. You're paying way too much for it, period.

 

[BJMRamage]

^ I can totally understand the OP thoughts about not dealing with all these subscriptions and various apps. For the elderly they just want things to work in a VERY similar manner (heck I prefer that too) the hassle of the Xfinity Beta App on my ROKU makes me just wish for a working box to rent. Some days we need to re-authorrize the app (multiple times until it finally works) and though the Xfinity UX is similar the experience is NOT the same.

There are other options that are SIMILAR like Sling or AT&TV but all are not quite the same experience and require a new thinking to tackle...and the ability to easily punch in channel numbers or Up/Down channels easily.

 

[satcomer]

A few years ago I setup my parents with ATV‘s and a SD Prime tuner with a cable card. They watch via the channels app, and it took them A while to get comfortable with it. It has allowed them to have a bunch of tv’s where they could have never afforded to if they had to rent tuners from xfinity.

the fcc has gotten rid of the cable card requirements and the SD Prime tuner cards days may be numbered.

i Really hate the idea of going from an ATV to a roku box. Has their been any news of xfinity finally supporting other streaming boxes?

I would love to stear the towards something like youtube tv but they will never be able to just drop cable.

What happened Cable people are not stupid and found they could stop this third party stuff that users do more with their stuff and started encryption on them r service, including basic users with renting from them! That’s why more and more people “have cut the cord” as they say and went back to antennas and uncompressed TV signals and online services with sometimes multiple TV boxes Like Amazon, Netflix and Apple as well as others! Just remember the best Google services box is Nvidia Shield, of course for Apple User and 4K Apple TV!

 

[oneMadRssn]

In a perfect world I could get internet for about $60 a month and then add on something like youtube tv.

Why isn't this an option? YoutubeTV looks and feels pretty much just like the Channels app with the Prime tuner you mentioned.

 

[gpspad]

Why isn't this an option? YoutubeTV looks and feels pretty much just like the Channels app with the Prime tuner you mentioned.

the perfect world is I could get fast internet for about $60 month in my area. We can only get xfinity internet. No competiton, no other options. Any xfinity decent package is only temporary with limited speed, mak8ng to pay for extra while they run a hot spot out of your house. that’s what I meant by not an option.

For me I would ditch cable, and stream everything. It feels like your sacraficing to save money, but I could live with it.

But for older people, it’s harder to loose the tv feel they are so used to.

 

[oneMadRssn]

the perfect world is I could get fast internet for about $60 month in my area. We can only get xfinity internet. No competiton, no other options. Any xfinity decent package is only temporary with limited speed, mak8ng to pay for extra while they run a hot spot out of your house. that’s what I meant by not an option.

For me I would ditch cable, and stream everything. It feels like your sacraficing to save money, but I could live with it.

But for older people, it’s harder to loose the tv feel they are so used to.

I'm confused, you seem to be talking about two things: (1) internet speeds, and (2) cable tv UI.

As for (1), isn't xfinity a cable-internet ISP? If you have cabletv through them, then surely they have internet-only plans. https://www.xfinity.com/learn/internet-service/deals

As for (2), YoutubeTV very much feels like cabletv. There is a tv guide, and you select channels to watch live.

I agree though that youtubetv + cable internet is likely not going to be cheaper in the short term. YTTV is pricey, and xfinity will jack the price of internet every year (like they do with cabletv). But I think long-term is the right step for most folks.

 

[HDFan]

and xfinity will jack the price of internet every year (like they do with cabletv).

That has not been my experience. Every year or so I have them go over their package price and every year the price drops, or the data speed increases for the same charge. Most recently they dropped my $50 unlimited data fee. If you don't periodically review with them your costs will likely increase. You have to be proactive.

 

[oneMadRssn]

That has not been my experience. Every year or so I have them go over their package price and every year the price drops, or the data speed increases for the same charge. Most recently they dropped my $50 unlimited data fee. If you don't periodically review with them your costs will likely increase. You have to be proactive.

Yea, I agree. I do the same with ISP, and actually last time they agreed to lock in my rate for 2 years. But this guy is asking for his parents are as I understood, are still on regular cable and most likely not negotiating every year. I think we're in the minority in terms of being super proactive about ISP rates.