Discovery+ on Sling TV

There was an announcement this week about a new feature coming to Sling TV. Discovery+ will be available for Sling TV as a $5/month add-on.

That's the same price as the standalone service with the Discovery+ app, but for Sling TV users, it will have the convenience of already being in the Sling TV app. At least, I suppose that's a convenience.

As one who got into streaming in the early days, I'm used to using separate apps, and not just staying in a single app all the time. I'll hop apps in a heartbeat. In fact, to me, it's easier to switch apps rather than find a channel within an app such as Sling TV. But, that's me. I'm not the typical user, I suppose.

So, for those that like the idea of a single app for everything, the Sling TV app addition of Discovery+ is a big deal.

Oh, and you don't have to subscribe to Sling TV to use the Discovery+ app. You do have to subscribe to Discovery+ through Sling TV, but the $35/month plan for Sling Blue or Sling Orange is not a requirement.

All SLING users, including users of SLING Free or any SLING subscription, may customize their viewing experience by adding discovery+ as a premium a la carte streaming service.

"Providing our customers with the best entertainment experience has always been our number one priority at DISH and SLING," said Gary Schanman, group president, SLING TV. "The addition of discovery+ on our platforms offers iconic and acclaimed content for the a la carte experience our customers love. We offer more than 50 premium a la carte services to enable our users to customize their viewing experience, all with a single account login so they can easily manage their services in one place."

Since Sling TV free tier is a pretty darn good deal, with the availability of Discovery+ as an add-on, as well as other recent additions to the free channel lineup, which now totals over 200 free live and on-demand channels.

Sling TV, the first live streaming service, continues to be a worthy consideration for including in your Streaming Life.

Sling TV Free adds Pluto TV content

One free ad-supported television (FAST) service that doesn't seem to get a lot of talk -- at least, I don't see a lot about it -- is Sling TV.

Now, you may be saying, "But Sling TV is $35/month, which is most certainly not free." And that's true. But, Sling TV offers a free tier. And it's actually a pretty good free service. And it just got even better.

Sling TV Free (I don't really know what else to call it) is, like the name I'm calling it, free. And it's comparable to Pluto TV, Xumo, and Tubi insofar as a free ad-supported television service. In fact, it even picked up some Pluto TV channels recently.

An article in Cord Cutters News brought it to my attention.

These are the Pluto TV channels now streaming for free on Sling:

• BET Pluto TV
• CMT Pluto TV
• Comedy Central Pluto TV
• MTV Biggest Pop
• MTV Pluto TV
• MTV Spankin’ New
• VH1 I Love Reality

I had not noticed the new apps, but sure enough, they're available. And that brings the number of live channels offered by Sling TV Free to 164. The service also has 38 on-demand channels, meaning over 200 channels of content is available.

That's pretty good. And that's why I keep Sling TV on my devices, even though I don't subscribe to the Orange service year round.

In case you forgot, Sling TV offers a $35/month Orange service as well as a $35/month Blue service. Blue has more channels, and focuses on NBC and Fox sports, while Orange, though with fewer channels, offers ABC/Disney/ESPN content and sports. The Orange+Blue combination package is $50/month.

But, if like me, you only need the live sports channels during part of the year, keeping the app and watching the free tier the rest of the year may be a good addition to your Streaming Life. It certainly helps me enjoy mine.

Stormy Weather

I love Stormy Weather. The version by Lena Horne is a favorite, although it's hard to beat the earlier recording by Ethel Waters.

Having said that, I'm not all that big a fan of stormy weather. You know, the actual weather where it storms. The song is wonderful. The weather phenomenon, not so much.

I bring this up because yesterday, there was some stormy weather, and it wreaked havoc at the house.

There was damage to electronics, but nothing more than that. No limbs through the roof. No trees uprooted. Just a close by lightning strike that cause the lights to briefly go out, a large pop from where the Internet connection comes in, and then my network not coming back up.

So far, I found three things that the lightning took out. My network router didn't exactly die, but it stopped working. Lights came on, and the wireless network allowed connections, but it would not connect to the Internet.

I have a separate modem, and was worried that had gone out, but connecting a computer directly to that showed that the modem was not the issue. It was the wireless router.

I also have a separate network switch to which I had several devices connected via Ethernet to the network. That switch went out as well.

And, my expensive fancy KVM switch that I used to connect multiple computers to a mouse, keyboard, and monitor also went out.

Correcting the wireless was easy enough. I bought a new wireless router. Two nodes, actually, as I replaced the mesh network with another mesh network. I could have purchased a replacement for the single device that was fried, but that was not available locally, and I could replace the entire network (two access points) for around the price of the single bad device. So, the wireless network was replaced, and configured with the same SSID and password.

Correcting the switch was easy enough as well. I bought a new switch. It was a simple 8-port switch that I use to connect devices, and an exact replacement was available locally. So, the switch was replaced and the Ethernet connected devices began working again.

The KVM switch is more of a problem. Part of it works -- the video monitor, the V part, works -- and part doesn't. So, I connected a mouse and keyboard directly to each of the main computers I use -- the Windows device runs Plex, and the Linux device is what I'm using for day to day use -- and I'm back running. I've ordered another KVM switch, and will replace it when it arrives in a couple of days.

I really hate when nature conspires against me. And I really didn't like that three pieces of the network went out, but I should be thankful that only three pieces were damaged. It could have been a lot worse, I suppose.

The storm ended shortly after putting my network down, and I was able to then order the two parts from Walmart and have them delivered. Yes, I waited until after the storm passed.

I was down a few hours, but after Walmart delivered the parts to get me back up and running, I once again resumed my online, and Streaming, Life.

Privacy phone, part 5

I've mentioned before that I'm looking into using a phone that provides more privacy than most standard phones. And, of course, since nothing is simple, I've run into all kinds of issues along the way.

The options, as previously laid out, boiled down to:

1. Using a modified Android version on an existing phone.
2. Getting a phone with a version of Android installed.
3. Getting a phone with a mobile version of Linux installed.

So, which way did I go? All three.

I'm currently weighing usage of three different setups.

I have a Google Pixel 4a running Lineage OS.

I have a Teracube 2e running /e/OS, a modified version of Lineage OS.

I have a Pine64 phone running a mobile version of Manjaro Linux.

This past week is when I finally got all three setups running, and I have some initial thoughts, though these may change over time.

First, the Linux phone isn't working all that great. I don't know if it's the phone or if it's the mobile version of Manjaro Linux that is the problem, but it's a problem. It reminds me of when BlackBerry tried to launch a touch-screen interface. You may not remember that, but it was a very bad experience.

I loved my regular BlackBerry at the time, and when I they launched a touch interface, I considered moving from Android back to BlackBerry. However, I had the opportunity to try it out ahead of time, and it was a terrible experience. It was buggy, it was sluggish, and it was not going to get my business.

I never knew if it was the hardware wasn't good enough, or if the software wasn't good enough, but the overall package wasn't good enough. That's how I feel about this Pine64 phone setup. Maybe the phone hardware is inferior. Maybe the software isn't where it needs to be in regards to a touch interface. Whatever the issue is, I'm not liking the Pine64/Manjaro setup. But, I'll keep using it and seeing how it does.

The Teracube 2e running /e/OS is running well. I've had this setup the longest, and the only problem has been finding a carrier that works. There have been no issues with the usage of the phone and interface, though. Right now, though, the current carrier is working, so that's a good sign. It's light years ahead of the Pine64/Manjaro setup.

The most recent setup is the Google Pixel 4a running Lineage OS. I had some issues setting it up, but finally found a solution to the issue I had. And, it's going okay so far. I've had no trouble with a carrier supporting the phone, and so far the OS is working well.

So, for the next month, I'll be using all three phones and making a determination on which is the best. Then, I'll have to weigh it against my current phone setup, and decide if I want to actually make the switch or not.

I really like the idea of a phone that doesn't send all of my data back to some source that sells my data to others. Or even keeping it for themselves. It just doesn't sit well with me. But, that's a decision I'll make later. Right now, I'm going to be comparing these three phones and their setups and deciding which works best for me.

Can you really save money by streaming?

Years ago, I looked into streaming because I was fascinated by the idea of it. I didn't know about such a thing until I was visiting my son and saw that he was streaming content on a gaming device. I think it was an Xbox. Anyway, I was fascinated. So, I decided to look into it.

One thing I was not going to do was to move to streaming if it cost more to watch TV that way. The idea of paying more for the same thing didn't make sense to me. I didn't know about all the other benefits of streaming, but the deciding factor, if it came down to it, was the bottom line. Would it save me money?

So, here's how I figured out if it would save me money. And this is a good way for you to make the same determination.

What am I paying today? And what am I getting for that?

Depending on what services are available, you have to figure out what you're paying for those services today, and what you'll pay for the services if you switch to streaming. The services I had to consider were TV, Internet service, and home phone.

There could be other services to consider, depending on what your current lineup of services are. For instance, you may have a security system tied in with your setup. Or, you may not have a home phone. Or, your new ISP may offer discounted cellular service (Xfinity does this). So it may come down to:

• Internet
• TV
• Home phone
• Cell phone
• Security system

Take out any that don't apply to you, or won't be affected by a change. In my instance, home phone, cell phone, and alarm system were not in the mix. Actually, Internet wasn't either, as at the time, my ISP was not my cable provider, and wasn't immediately after the change. So, all I had to figure was TV. That was simple. You may have to figure all of these, an possibly even more. But do tally up what you pay each month for those services.

What goes up and what goes down?

Sometimes the price of one service changes if it's bundled with another service. For example, if your ISP is also your cable TV provider, you may be getting a discount for having two services. If you drop cable TV, you may lose the discount.

For example, if you're paying $150 for Internet and TV, it may break out into $100 for cable, $70 for Internet, with a $20 bundle discount. In this instance, if you dropped cable, you would subtract $100, but you'd have to add $20 because of losing the discount. That's still a savings, but not as much.

Faster Internet?

Another question you need to consider is if you need faster Internet. My default answer is "probably not."

Many people think you need really fast Internet service to stream. You don't. Now, you do need at least 25 Mbps to stream UHD/4K video, so if your speed is less than that, you may want to bump up to at least 25 Mbps. But do you need 100 Mbps? 200 Mbps? 1 Gbps? No, probably not. If you don't need it today, you won't need it tomorrow. As long as you have enough to stream UHD/4K, you have plenty of speed.

Those numbers, by the way, are for one stream. If you plan on streaming on multiple screens, then you'll want to multiply accordingly.

How do you replace cable TV?

There are a different options you have when it comes to what to replace cable TV. What service should you use to get the channels you want?

One thing to consider is an antenna. If you can put up an antenna, do so. In the long run, it's a cheap way to watch broadcast TV. That's your local network affiliates -- ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, NBC -- plus the other channels that carry content that many households watch -- MeTV, Antenna TV, Court TV, Circle, Laff, Bounce, Grit, Ion, Cozi, True Crime, Get TV, Comet, H&I, and others -- giving you a wide selection of content.

That may be enough. Add to that some free ad-supported television (FAST) services such as Pluto TV, Xumo, Roku Channel, Tubi, and others, you may have enough TV to watch. But, if not, you have lots of options, ranging from Frndly TV at $7/month, Philo at $25/month, Sling TV starting at $35/month, YouTube TV at $65/month, Hulu+Live TV at $70/month.

On demand services such as many of the FAST services listed, plus basic Hulu at $7/month, may be all you need.

What you need depends on you. What I need depends on me. I go for less, using antenna, on-demand, and FAST services to fill my TV needs. But you may need more. So, use a service like Suppose TV to find the services that suit your watching habits.

What about other services?

Another thing to consider are the on-demand subscription services such as Netflix, Hulu (already mentioned), Disney+, Apple TV+, Discovery+, HBO Max, Prime Video, Paramount+, AMC+, Starz, Peacock TV, and others.

Do you need all of these services? Maybe, but you don't need them all at once. You can subscribe for a month at a time to any or all of these. Pick one this month, a different one next month, and so on, from the ones that interest you. You get a lot of content for a lower price that way.

What does the comparison show?

Looking at what you were paying before, along with the numbers regarding what you'll pay each month. Keep in mind that if you already have any of these streaming services -- Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, etc. -- then you don't figure them in. Or, if you do, you figure them in the current and the future. They cancel out -- you had the service before and after, so it's a wash -- meaning you can leave it out of the calculations if that makes it simpler.

After you've added up what you're paying today, and comparing it to what you'll pay going forward, is it worth it?

It may not be. You may already have the best bargain for your viewing habits. And that's fine.

Or, it may be cheaper to switch to streaming and drop cable. That way you'll save money from now on.

However you decide is the best way for you, whether it's moving from cable to a Streaming Life, or remaining with cable, doing what's best for you is always the goal.