Santa Cruz Techies

More and more people are switching to "streaming services" over old-fashioned cable/satellite TV.

But what does "streaming" means? What are the advantages/disadvantages over cable TV?

In a nutshell, "streaming" means "running over the internet" instead of using dedicated cables from a cable company.

The disadvantages of old-fashioned cable/satellite services: cable/satellite services require infrastructure: cables to the specific room you want to watch TV in, cable box, a technician needs to come and install it on every single room, a technician is required to troubleshoot issues, etc.

Another disadvantage (and probably a more significant one) is the high monthly fee, which usually is hundreds of dollars.

Some of the advantages of "streaming provides" are:
1) Significantly lower monthly fee
2) One subscription is enough to run on multiple devices/TV at the same time. Most streaming providers allow their customers to use one subscription for 3-6 devices, so you don't need to have three different subscriptions for three different devices (unlike with cables).
3) Do not require a "dedicated cable box". Streaming services can run on a computer, most smart TVs, mobile phones, iPads, Apple TV devices, Roku devices, etc
4) Easy to switch between providers (done online in minutes)
5) In some cases, higher quality (4K) than cable/satellite TV (Full HD)

While many pay for TV services $200-400 a month, streaming providers charge about $40-70 a month.

Streaming providers provide most/all the channels you want at a lower price.

In general, there are two types of "streaming services". One is for pre-recorded shows/movies (without live channels), like Netflix, for example.
The other type is for live channels, like YouTube TV, Sling, etc.
Some services provide both pre-recorded shows/movies (like Netflix), AND live channels (YouTube TV, Hulu live TV, etc). 

Here are some guidelines for a smooth transition from a cable/satellite TV to a streaming provider:
1) Know what channels you need and what channels the streaming provider offers. 
To make things easier, we have created an unofficial comparison chart between cable channels and streaming channels on our website (www.santacruztechies.com, "Guides and Articles", "Cables/streaming comparison chart")
2) Fast and stable internet connection with good coverage

In rare cases, people switch back to their old TV/satellite provider from streaming services. From our experience, the main two reasons for that are:  The customer didn't check what channels are available on the streaming provider before switching and was surprise not to find their favorite channels, and the 2nd reasons is poor internet connection/poor wifi.

Ensuring you have a strong internet is at your place is critical for a good streaming experience!

Some disadvantages of switching to streaming services are: it requires some time to get used to a new remote and new channel sorting. For most people, this disadvantage is negligible.

We welcome you to contact us for assistance with choosing the right streaming services and ensuring that your internet will perform well enough for streaming.